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Refinished my painted rear bumper and bought a new chrome front bumper because mine was pretty much a goner. While I had the front bumper off I pulled the grill shell to attempt to get some small dents out but didn't have much luck. Looked at buying a new shell, $700ish plus I couldn't actually find someone that had them in stock. Finally I came across a dent-free one while out of town on Thanksgiving.
Bought it in a heartbeat but the only issue is that the oxidation/water spots/whatever at the top of the shell won't come off with anything that I currently have. I used basic rubbing compound and then polishing compound, by hand, on the rest of the shell with pretty good success to include removing small amounts of paint overspray from the previous owner. I'm looking for something to get the rest of this gunk off, whether that's a product, mechanical means, or both. I know the finish under this is excellent, just gotta get there. Suggestions are appreciated, but I'm hoping that someone has a true success story with a product or mechanical means that they used on their grill shell so that I don't have to buy and trial-and-error a whole bunch of products myself.
When building my brothers truck we had the same issue with all of the aluminum trim. Our local body shop supply store suggested that we start by etching all the trim with scotch brite and then a couple coats of clear coat on top
The scotch brite makes a real mess of the finish - it is giving the clear coat something to stick to. Once you clear coat it it looks 10x better than anything else I have tried.
Just an idea.. if you decide to go this route take the time to practice on your dented grill. In my opinion once the aluminum has lost its finish it is nearly impossible to return it to an 'as new' condition.
Of course if you happen to have a chrome grill then the approach would be different - I'm assuming from the pictures that your grill is an aluminum one.
Its the aluminum one indeed... I did see a video of the scotch brite trick, but the video kept making reference to the "brushed" look the pads will give it. I don't know that will look right.
Don't really want to spend the money to chrome it, didn't realize I might end up clear coating it though. My door sills are even worse but still no rust so I'll be looking to do those after this project. Maybe I should start with them and work my way to this though. Headliner chrome pieces are completely rusted, going to try some highly rated chrome spray after brushing and blacking them and see how they turn out. Worse that can happen is I have to buy some new headliner pieces. But I need to keep this grill shell nice as they're hard to find.
I'm petty sure it's clear anodized from the factory. Most people sand/ buff it off, but then it needs constant buffing or it'll oxidize. Some people clear coat it, but paint doesn't usually stick to polished surfaces, so I'm not sure how long that lasts. I tried clear on polished wheels and it didn't last more than 2 years. Look up industrial coatings in your area and get a quote to have it re anodized. It might not be that much, I dealt with a place that'd slip stuff in to the next scheduled run they could to save you some money rather than doing its own run, sometimes you had to wait a few days, but it was worth it. Sand and buff it all up, then get it coated, it'll look good for another 30 years.
The aluminum trim on these trucks are anodized from the factory. The only way to polish out badly oxidized stuff like that is to sand the anodizing off or chemically strip it off. You use to be able to use Easy Off spray or to soak the trim in a bath of water and some Drano. The active ingrediant in both of them (I believe it was Sodium Hydroxide) would strip the anodizing easily. To my knowledge though they have changed the formulas and that doesnt work anymore, but if you could find that sodium hydroxide from another source, you should be in business.
I've seen on here many times guys will use WD-40 and rub it with a ball of tinfoil, but I think you end up with what speedfreak78 is talking, no more anodizing and you get to re-do it every time you wash it FOREVER. You'd think there'd be a good way to clear coat it, like Ford/Alcoa did on the factory aluminum rims in the '90s - that stuff held up pretty darn good, I thought. Who knows what they used, and NO IDEA where you'd find that out..... There are a few companies that recondition wheels, they might be a place to start, though? But that was also on a big, rigid piece, not sure if it'd crack and peel on something as thin as a grille shell...
He'll be polishing that trim for the rest of his life though. Polish and wax only last so long.
On a show vehicle, that would work perfectly. On something that isn't a trailer queen, I'm no so sure.
I did that for some of the bad trim on my truck and now polish it twice a year. It sits outside and gets ran a good bit. Twice a year keeps it nice though.
I dont know if you could re clear it or not. Probably be hard to get a clear coat that would stick to the super smooth polished aluminum though.
It's not out of the question to strip, polish and then anodize a grill. If you are real dedicated you could even anodize it yourself, a tank, power and battery acid is all you need...
Mother's Aluminum & Mag polish got me so far, definitely further than anything else had. I applied it to a mother's polishing ball that has a drill chuck. I had also tried Turtle Wax Rubbing compound (left orange tint but did remove paint overspray and some water markings) and Turtle Wax Polishing Compound (removed light water marks and some of the orange tint from Rubbing Compound. Coke and tin foil did nothing. Steel wool did nothing. Drain cleaner did nothing. "Easy Off" oven spray removed really slight clouding. I didn't try sanding or scotch brite for fear of screwing it up beyond repair.
Ended up taking it to the local detail shop because it just wasn't worth my time. I farm out very little work on this truck and this was something I just wasn't going to go and try a million different purchases for, just take it to the pros and let it be. They did a fairly good job on it, still not perfect, so I got a discount! Put it together with the new grill and headlight buckets as well as front bumper and it looks just fine.
Took it to "double take automotive" which is on Banksville Road in Pittsburgh. I live a few blocks away and they had top notch reviews. I didn't ask for specifics but they basically took a lot of time and effort using mag polish and likely some other products and whatever electronic contraptions they used. Figured they wouldn't tell me if i asked for exacts anyhow, otherwise they wouldn't get future business. As far as aftercare, they said to wipe water off it, polish it a couple times a year, and consider waxing it.
They took $100 for their effort, said it was gonna be $150 if they got it perfect. Felt a little steep for me considering they do an entire car for like $200, but they said they spent about 3-4 hours and a lot of effort getting it to where it is.
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plus I couldn't actually find someone that had them in stock
. Finally I came across a dent-free one while out of town on Thanksgiving.
You'd think there'd be a good way to clear coat it, like Ford/Alcoa did on the factory aluminum rims in the '90s - that stuff held up pretty darn good, I thought. Who knows what they used, and NO IDEA where you'd find that out..... There are a few companies that recondition wheels, they might be a place to start, though? But that was also on a big, rigid piece, not sure if it'd crack and peel on something as thin as a grille shell...
